lding, the cold air doing little to sober her up. She stepped to the
sat a matte black Maybach. Its windows were tin
. His eyes, however, were not on the page. They were fixed on the slender figure across the street, tracking her eve
trench coat pulled tight around her, and a look of pained, obsessive longing crossed his
e front passenger seat. "Sir, should
Not yet," he said, his voice a low ru
tal ashtray built into the armrest.
ic. "Contact Iris Mann. Extend an invitation for
re a match with the Montgomery family. Everyone in this ci
's the perfect Trojan horse. A beautiful, ambitious di
, a yellow cab fi
Brianna into the back se
ickled the back of her neck, the distinct sensation of being watc
at the edges of her memory-the shape, the way it sat in the darkness, the almost imperceptible
if she could see him, as if her gaze had pierced the tinted glass a
oisy engine momentarily blocking her view. For one heart-stopping mo
still fixed on the spot where the Maybach sat. Then she shook her head
ghts disappeared into
said softly, his eyes still fixed o
nd was still unconscious, lost in a drunken sleep that would likely leave her with no memory of the night. Ele
wear-something elegant but understated, something that would
reach the highest shelf, where out-of-
dged something hidden behind it. A deep blu
rpet with a soft th
was a vintage Patek Philippe watch. A m
tch. She had hidden it away eight years ago, after she married Avon, and sh
d knelt on the floor. Her fingers trembled as she reached oould see, and yet she hesitated-as if not looki
, steel case were two s
.
clutched the watch to her chest, pressing it against her h
al wave. A flood of a life she had forced herself to forget.
here in the dark, holding this watch, she knew the truth: she had never stopped mi
gh Avon's cold rage, through Brianna's drunken revelations-finally broke free, ho
She didn't know how much time had passed. All she knew was the w
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